Former NSW premier Kristina Keneally didn't want to get dragged into the sexism debate, but then an envelope arrived in the mail. It was addressed to ''The Approving Socialist Slut at Basketball Australia''.

She gave a sigh of exasperation and tweeted a photo of the offending item, sent by someone upset with a planning decision she once made.

There are a long list of former NSW Labor premiers who might be unpopular with voters, but do any of the blokes endure sexual slurs the equivalent of being called a ''slut''?

This week Prime Minister Julia Gillard made sexism a big part of the election agenda, speculating on the fate of abortion rights under a Coalition government.